Correspondence about regional pools regarding budgets
| Authority | Department of Education, Sport and Culture |
|---|---|
| Date received | 2021-12-30 |
| Outcome | Upheld - full |
| Outcome date | 2022-07-11 |
| Case ID | 2165681 |
Summary
The request sought correspondence regarding budget requirements for Isle of Man regional swimming pools, specifically focusing on utility costs and staffing. The response disclosed a letter from the Western Swimming Pool detailing significant financial pressures from rising gas and electricity tariffs, wage disparities with the National Sports Centre, and urgent maintenance funding needs.
Key Facts
- Western Swimming Pool faces a 43.75% increase in commercial gas tariffs effective October 2021.
- Staff wages at the Western Swimming Pool are significantly lower than those at the National Sports Centre, hindering recruitment.
- The pool has incurred £25,000 in maintenance costs during the 2021-2022 financial year from its own funds.
- Urgent repairs totaling approximately £37,000 are required for fire doors, air handling units, and pool filtration systems.
- The pool management reported receiving little response or assistance from the Department of Education, Sport and Culture regarding these issues.
Data Disclosed
- 43.75%
- 20th October 2021
- £66,944
- £20,455
- £58,227
- £17,791
- £13.42 per hour
- £7.47 per hour
- £8.54 per hour
- £11.23 per hour
- £3,248
- £16,155
- £32,000
- £24,545
- £41,490
- £280,000
- £25,000
- £2,500
- £900
- £2,000
- £5,000
- £30,000
- 13th October 2021
- 18th November 2021
Original Request
Please provide all correspondence (internal within DESC and external to other departments of bodies) and/or minutes of meetings held since 1st June 2021 that makes reference to the budget requirements of the regional pools on the Isle of Man. This includes any and all discussions that make reference to altering the swimming pool rate as well as other budget based discussion.
Data Tables (4)
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| For disclosure | Weight | Against disclosure | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transparency – Disclosure of the information would support transparency and promote openness and accountability to the general public in relation to internal issues. | 5 | The internal staffing issue has not been settled and the Department would not wish to jeopardise this | 5 |
| Safeguarding the democratic process | N/A | Of general interest to the general public but does not directly impact upon them. | 1 |
| Promoting good decision making by public bodies, ensuring standards of integrity are upheld and that there is justice and fair treatment for all | 3 | Knowledge that there is an internal issue still to be resolved may undermine faith in local commissioners | 1 |
| Securing the best use of public resources | 2 | Promoting good decision making by public bodies and that there is justice and fair treatment for all – negotiations and discussions can occur without negative publicity or distraction | 3 |
| Ensuring fair commercial competition in a mixed economy | N/A | Securing the best use of public resources – discussions are on- going and disclosure may jeopardise ongoing discussions | 2 |
| Shedding light on suspicion of wrongdoing on the part of an authority | N/A | N/A | |
| N/A | |||
| Total | 10 | Total | 12 |
Full Response Text
Western Swimming Pool
Derby Rd
Peel
IM5 1SW
3rd December 2021
Reference: Significant concerns effecting the Western Swimming Pool
Dear
I am writing to you in relation to significant concerns that the Western Swimming Pool Board and
Senior Management team are currently facing.
,
and I have raised these concerns with the Head of Sport, Recreation and Youth at the Department of
Education, Sport and Culture,
and the Head of Estates at the Department of Education,
Sport and Culture
and our local MHKs, but have received little response and no
assistance.
Currently, we have three significant concerns:
1. Increase in utility charges: a 43.75% increase in the commercial tariff of gas was applied by
Manx Gas with effect from 20th October 2021 (our previous tariff was 4.8p per kWh, which
increased to 6.9p per kWh on 20th October 2021). This increase results in our estimated
annual cost of gas being £66,944, which is a £20,455 annual increase in our gas expenditure.
A proportionate increase in electricity is anticipated to follow soon resulting in our estimated annual cost of electricity being £58,227, which is a £17,791 annual increase in our electricity expenditure.
These increases will significantly affect the ability for the Western Swimming Pool to stay operational if additional funding is not provided.
- Staff costs and staying competitive in the current market: the NSC are currently paying their 16 to 18-year-old lifeguards £13.42 per hour. We are currently paying our 16-year-old lifeguards £7.47 per hour, our 17-year-old lifeguards £8.54 per hour and our 18-year-old lifeguards £11.23 per hour.
If we were to increase the hourly rate of pay for our 16 and 17-year-old lifeguards to the same level as our 18-year-old lifeguards, this would cost the Western Swimming Pool an estimated additional expenditure of £3,248 per annum.
If we were to match the NSC hourly rate of pay for our 16 to 18-year-old lifeguards, this would cost the Western Swimming Pool an estimated additional expenditure of £16,155 per annum.
The NSC team leaders are getting paid £32,000 per annum. The Western Swimming Pool team leaders (who have more responsibility than those that work at the NSC, as when the Assistant Manager or I are not in the building, our team leaders run the facility) are getting paid £24,545 per annum. We have four full time team leaders and two part time team leaders. If we were to match the NSC rate of pay, this would cost the Western Swimming Pool an estimated additional expenditure of £41,490 per annum.
As you can clearly see there is massive mismatch in wages at the NSC compared to the Western Swimming Pool and other Regional Swimming Pools. This is hampering our ability to recruit and retain vital staff, as we are unable to match these rates of pay on current funding terms.
If the funding we receive does not increase, we will not be able to increase our rates of pay to recruit and retain lifeguards which will significantly affect the ability for the Western Swimming Pool to stay operational.
- Minor capital work funding: In the budget published by IOM Government in April 2021 it
states that:
The budget for “minor capital improvement/maintenance works to the Island's 3 Public Swimming Pools is £280,000. This does not include the swimming pool at the NSC”. So far in the 2021-2022 financial year, the Western Swimming Pool has spent £25,000 on pool maintenance, including fully re grouting our teaching pool, shower areas and parts of the pool hall. All this work was carried out during lockdown and paid for by the Western Swimming Pool. Further expenditure on new lighting at a cost of £2,500, a new shower cartridge at a cost of £900 and replacement grids for poolside at a cost of £2,000 have all added to the cost at the pool this year.
We currently have a £2,000 bill to pay for the repair of all the internal fire doors, as this was picked up by the fire inspector in his biannual review, £5,000 to pay to fix two broken air handling units and an estimated expenditure of £30,000 to repair and replace the filter media, heat exchangers and controller panels for the teaching pool and main pool. On 13th October 2021 I emailed the Head of Estates at the Department of Education, Sport and Culture explaining that we would need financial help going into the New Year due to these essential maintenance items requiring payment. I have not received a reply.
On 18th November 2021 our teacher pool developed an issue where the filter media has
started to leak into the pool. I once again emailed the Head of Estates at the Department of
Education, Sport and Culture and the Head of Sport, Recreation and Youth at the
Department of Education, Sport and Culture urgently requesting assistance so we could get
the required parts ordered. I am still awaiting any response to my email, and I am hoping the
teaching pool doesn’t completely stop in the meantime.
The budget noted above, which is meant to be available to the regional pools for essential
maintenance work, does not seem to be accessible. Without this we will have to close our
teaching pool, cancelling hundreds of pre and pre-preschool swimming lessons which would
cause the loss of a valuable income stream and deny the public a valuable service.
We will be increasing our prices by 5%-7% in January 2022 to try and generate additional income
and will be closing the pool at quieter times to save on staff costs, but these actions impact both
residents and visitors to the island and do not sit comfortably with our Board or the Senior
Management team of the Western Swimming Pool. Cutting our service levels and increasing
entrance fees will affect everybody and is not our desired conclusion to these significant concerns.
and I would very much welcome the opportunity to discuss our concerns with you in person in
the hope that a solution might be reached.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely
Western Swimming Pool
Derby Rd
Peel
IM5 1SW
3rd December 2021
Reference: Significant concerns effecting the Western Swimming Pool
Dear
I am writing to you in relation to significant concerns that the Western Swimming Pool Board and
Senior Management team are currently facing.
,
and I have raised these concerns with the Head of Sport, Recreation and Youth at the Department of
Education, Sport and Culture,
and the Head of Estates at the Department of Education,
Sport and Culture
and our local MHKs, but have received little response and no
assistance.
Currently, we have three significant concerns:
1. Increase in utility charges: a 43.75% increase in the commercial tariff of gas was applied by
Manx Gas with effect from 20th October 2021 (our previous tariff was 4.8p per kWh, which
increased to 6.9p per kWh on 20th October 2021). This increase results in our estimated
annual cost of gas being £66,944, which is a £20,455 annual increase in our gas expenditure.
A proportionate increase in electricity is anticipated to follow soon resulting in our estimated annual cost of electricity being £58,227, which is a £17,791 annual increase in our electricity expenditure.
These increases will significantly affect the ability for the Western Swimming Pool to stay operational if additional funding is not provided.
- Staff costs and staying competitive in the current market: the NSC are currently paying their 16 to 18-year-old lifeguards £13.42 per hour. We are currently paying our 16-year-old lifeguards £7.47 per hour, our 17-year-old lifeguards £8.54 per hour and our 18-year-old lifeguards £11.23 per hour.
If we were to increase the hourly rate of pay for our 16 and 17-year-old lifeguards to the same level as our 18-year-old lifeguards, this would cost the Western Swimming Pool an estimated additional expenditure of £3,248 per annum.
If we were to match the NSC hourly rate of pay for our 16 to 18-year-old lifeguards, this would cost the Western Swimming Pool an estimated additional expenditure of £16,155 per annum.
The NSC team leaders are getting paid £32,000 per annum. The Western Swimming Pool team leaders (who have more responsibility than those that work at the NSC, as when the Assistant Manager or I are not in the building, our team leaders run the facility) are getting paid £24,545 per annum. We have four full time team leaders and two part time team leaders. If we were to match the NSC rate of pay, this would cost the Western Swimming Pool an estimated additional expenditure of £41,490 per annum.
As you can clearly see there is massive mismatch in wages at the NSC compared to the Western Swimming Pool and other Regional Swimming Pools. This is hampering our ability to recruit and retain vital staff, as we are unable to match these rates of pay on current funding terms.
If the funding we receive does not increase, we will not be able to increase our rates of pay to recruit and retain lifeguards which will significantly affect the ability for the Western Swimming Pool to stay operational.
- Minor capital work funding: In the budget published by IOM Government in April 2021 it
states that:
The budget for “minor capital improvement/maintenance works to the Island's 3 Public Swimming Pools is £280,000. This does not include the swimming pool at the NSC”. So far in the 2021-2022 financial year, the Western Swimming Pool has spent £25,000 on pool maintenance, including fully re grouting our teaching pool, shower areas and parts of the pool hall. All this work was carried out during lockdown and paid for by the Western Swimming Pool. Further expenditure on new lighting at a cost of £2,500, a new shower cartridge at a cost of £900 and replacement grids for poolside at a cost of £2,000 have all added to the cost at the pool this year.
We currently have a £2,000 bill to pay for the repair of all the internal fire doors, as this was picked up by the fire inspector in his biannual review, £5,000 to pay to fix two broken air handling units and an estimated expenditure of £30,000 to repair and replace the filter media, heat exchangers and controller panels for the teaching pool and main pool. On 13th October 2021 I emailed the Head of Estates at the Department of Education, Sport and Culture explaining that we would need financial help going into the New Year due to these essential maintenance items requiring payment. I have not received a reply.
On 18th November 2021 our teacher pool developed an issue where the filter media has
started to leak into the pool. I once again emailed the Head of Estates at the Department of
Education, Sport and Culture and the Head of Sport, Recreation and Youth at the
Department of Education, Sport and Culture urgently requesting assistance so we could get
the required parts ordered. I am still awaiting any response to my email, and I am hoping the
teaching pool doesn’t completely stop in the meantime.
The budget noted above, which is meant to be available to the regional pools for essential
maintenance work, does not seem to be accessible. Without this we will have to close our
teaching pool, cancelling hundreds of pre and pre-preschool swimming lessons which would
cause the loss of a valuable income stream and deny the public a valuable service.
We will be increasing our prices by 5%-7% in January 2022 to try and generate additional income
and will be closing the pool at quieter times to save on staff costs, but these actions impact both
residents and visitors to the island and do not sit comfortably with our Board or the Senior
Management team of the Western Swimming Pool. Cutting our service levels and increasing
entrance fees will affect everybody and is not our desired conclusion to these significant concerns.
and I would very much welcome the opportunity to discuss our concerns with you in person in
the hope that a solution might be reached.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely
CONFIDENTIAL
2
Northern Pool
£798,600 Southern Pool
£469,000 Western Pool
£434,004
The local Authorities that make up each of the Pool Boards currently contribute the following in rates to their respective Pool Board:
Northern Pool
£30,960 Southern Pool
£37,000
Western Pool
£24,435
Cost ratio of Regional Pools per m2 of water (excluding loan repayments):
Northern Pool 409m2
£409,810 + 30,960 = £440,770
£1,078 per m2 water
Southern Pool 175m2
£353,604 + 37,000 = £390,604
£2,232 per m2 water Western Pool 353m2
£345,000 + 24,435 = £369,435
£1,047 per m2 water
As can be seen from the table above the Southern pool costs twice as much to operate in subsidy than the other two pools. There may well be a number reasons why this is the case, but this options paper hasn’t explored the reasons for this, nor has it attempted to understand how the levels of subsidy were ever calculated originally when the agreement commenced. Whilst it would need evidencing, the costs to run a small pool (South) are likely to be similar for a larger pool (West and North) and should be taken into consideration should the option to include a new pool at a new CRHS development.
Following the global pandemic of COVID 19 all pools have been hit with closures for long periods of time which has had a detrimental impact on their income. Whilst some money will have been saved in energy costs and chemicals, the reality is that staffing costs have far outweighed that saving and with expenditure far greater than income then all Pools find themselves in challenging times and having to look at ways to cut costs.
Paul Bridson Head of Sport, Recreation & Youth, Emily Curphey, Deputy Chief Executive DOI and , Executive Officer for Local Government Unit, DOI were invited to attend a meeting on Wednesday 20 November with the Chair of the Pool Board and the Pool Administrator to outline and highlight their current issues. Officers were informed that on current budget profiling the pool would run out of money by March 2022 and no longer be able to pay staff wages beyond that date.
DoI Officer
S.30(2)(b)
Out of scope
Out of scope
Out of scope
Out of scope
CONFIDENTIAL
3
Gas Prices – increased costs
The recent price increase in the cost of gas for swimming pools is a 43% price rise. The impact that this will have on the pools by way of additional funding, not currently budgeted for is as follows:
Northern Pool
£19,000
Southern Pool
£13,750
Western Pool
£20,455 NSC Pool
£85,000
Out of
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